Online Public Relations Thoughts

Daily entries on Public Relations and communications ideas and trends

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

How Do You Handle This?

Airbnb, the apartment sharing startup, has a problem with prostitution. It seems Ladies of the Night are using its services for tricks. The service doesn't seem worried about it, but one wonders if it should be. What if people stop renting out apartments and rooms because they are afraid of the type of person who might take up residence? Airbnb's source of revenue will dry and its growth wither. It seems the company needs to do a better job of screening, but there will always be some who slip through. The questions are how many and how dangerous they might be to apartment owners and room renters. Airbnb might need to do more than it has already done.In the case of one Airbnb apartment used for prostitution, the startup took immediate action to ensure the apartment owner had a safe place to stay, reimbursed her for property damage, and kicked the Airbnb guest off the service for good. "Like other leaders in global hospitality, we are constantly evaluating security measures and working on even more tools to give our users even more ways to build trust," a spokesperson told Fortune.Airbnb must provide hosts with a sense of confidence that strangers won't abuse them or their property -- a headache for the hotel industry. Hoteliers have security guards and 24-hour desk service. The sharing service has a $1,000,000 guarantee for hosts, a way for them to correspond with guests and check their backgrounds before they arrive and the option to decline any guest. But, is it enough?